What if Swap Meat
by Katy M VT
Summary: What if Sam liked Gary's life?  Chapter 4 of 4 up.
1. Switch

What if Sam liked Gary's life?

Sam and Dean were talking to their old babysitter and her family.

"Did you know what their father did?" Katy asked her mother.

"Not at first," Donna said. "Sammy tried to tell me, but I didn't believe him."

"So, tell us what happened," Dean said.

"First things started flying around the house, then it got really cold, and then Katy was attacked."

"What happened?" Sam asked.

Katy lifted up her shirt to show "murdered chylde" carved into her stomach.

"OK, looks like you have a poltergeist," Dean said. "You guys take a little vacation and we'll clean it up."

"Thanks," Donna said.

SSS

Gary filled the order for a bacon cheeseburger and salad shake, and couldn't believe his eyes. He was looking at the man in the picture he had drawn last month. This was the man the demons wanted. This was his ticket out of his dad's stupid plan.

SSS

Sam headed to the town hall to try to find out where the body of the suspected poltergeist was buried, while Dean went back to the house to see if he could find anything. They had oftentimes thought one person was the ghost when it turned out to be somebody else, so it was better safe than sorry.

SSS

Gary called his friend Trevor. "I found Dean Winchester."

"Who?"

"That guy the demons are looking for," Gary reminded him.

"That's great. We're going to get a reward for that. Can you imagine the kind of reward demons can pony up?"

"Yeah. That's great for you. I've got an idea for me, though. I'm going to use that body switch spell. I'll trade places with his brother and killing Dean will be a cinch."

"How are you going to subdue the brother long enough to switch bodies?" Trevor asked.

"A dart with a knockout drug in it."

"If you can do that, why can't you just hit Dean with a poisoned dart? Wouldn't that be easier?" Trevor asked.

"It would, but this is a two-part plan. I kill Dean, and I get this whole new life. I don't need to worry about the "plan" anymore. And I'll be way less geeky than I am now. I'll be hot. All the babes will be after me."

Trevor rolled his eyes on the other end of the phone. Nothing would make Gary less geeky. "Whatever. As long as I get my reward."

"Sure, you can have the reward. I'll have what I want."

SSS

Sam was walking back towards the motel. His phone rang. "You find anything?" Dean asked.

"No, I could barely find evidence that Maggie Briggs existed, much less where she was buried. Looks like we have to do a cemetery roll tomorrow."

"Great," Dean said. Not his favorite activity. "Meet you back at the hotel."

"OK," Sam said and hung up. He felt like someone was watching him. He turned around. He didn't see anybody, but that didn't mean anything. He could be being watched by something invisible. But, if that was the case, not a lot he could do about it, so he turned back towards the hotel. He felt a sting in his neck. Like he was stung by an insect. He went to slap at it, but then everything went all spinny and he fell to the ground.

Gary ran up and checked to make sure nobody was around. Then he dragged Sam into the bushes. "Ugh, you weigh a ton. Can't wait to get into this body."

He had memorized the incantation earlier and recited it. The earth felt like it was shaking and bright lights started throbbing like a strobe light. He felt like he did when he got motion sickness. Then he was laying on the ground, looking at himself. It worked. He left the other guy in his body and went off to find Dean so he could kill him.

SSS

Sam woke up, groggy. What had happened? He remembered that he had been talking on the phone to Dean and then nothing. He checked his pockets looking for his phone. He couldn't find it. He decided just to head back to the motel. He started trudging along the road when he heard a car coming up behind. He turned to see a police car flashing its lights. He stopped.

"Your family called worried sick about you, son."

"My family? My brother called you?" Why would Dean call the cops? Dean hadn't involved the cops in their problems since those crazy hillbilly hunters had kidnapped him a few years ago. He shuddered just thinking about it.

"Get in. I'll take you home."

Sam shrugged and got in the car. He still felt groggy. A ride would be nice. He drifted off and when he woke up the car was pulling up to a house.

Sam got out of the car when the cop did. "Thanks for the ride, but where are we?"

"Home."

"I'm not staying here," Sam said, confused.

A middle-aged couple came rushing out of the house. "Gary!" the woman yelled. "We were worried sick," she said as she pulled Sam into a hug.

Sam pulled back, but then hugged her back. He hadn't gotten many hugs in his life. Even a hug from a stranger was nice. "Who are you?"

"Are you drunk, young man?" the man asked sternly.

"No. Who are you?" he asked again. He happened to look back at the car and saw his reflection in the car window. Except that it wasn't his reflection. He flipped out. "Who is that?" he yelled pointing at the window.

"Get in the house!" the man yelled.

Sam went into the house. He didn't know what else to do. He would have to get hold of Dean so they could figure this out.


	2. Better Lives

Gary was checking himself out in the mirror. He totally loved his new body. He flexed his muscles. He had muscles! Who would have ever thought that?

He heard the door opening and he quickly turned around. "Dean," he said. This was the man he was going to have to kill. He wanted to do it so he could get away with it, though. This whole plan would suck if he ended up in jail.

"Where you been?" Dean asked. Sam hadn't turned up so he had gone out to look for him. Sam found trouble more than anybody else who had ever walked the face of the earth.

"I got you dinner. Bacon cheeseburger," Gary said, remembering that had been Dean's order earlier.

"Thanks. Not sure why it took you two hours, though," Dean said, and started to dig in.

"You're going to want to take that to go."

"Why?" Dean asked.

Because I don't want Sam finding us. Not a good answer. He had heard part of the conversation earlier, though. "I found out where Maggie Briggs was buried. I dug her up and burned her bones, but the cops came. I ran away, but I'm not sure if they got a good look at me."

"I thought you said you couldn't find out where she was buried?"

"Some kid overheard me on the phone. He's a Maggie Briggs fanatic and he totally studied up on her. He told me where she was buried and I decided to take care of it." Gary hoped this made sense. He wanted to get out of town quick.

"OK. I'll meet you outside," Dean said as he headed for the bathroom. Gary quickly ran out and ditched every cell phone he could find. He had just finished depositing them in the dumpster when Dean came out.

"Hey, can I drive?" Gary asked. He hadn't gotten much driving practice. His dad said he needed to concentrate on other things.

"OK," Dean said. Sam never asked to drive. He didn't complain when Dean wanted to so he could rest, and would occasionally volunteer if he thought Dean needed a break, but never really asked to drive just to drive.

They switched seats. Gary started the car. Dean looked over. "Reverse," he said, noticing that Sam had accidentally put the car in that gear.

Gary didn't notice and didn't hear Dean. He was too excited. This was much cooler than his parents' station wagon. He took his foot off the brake.

"Reverse!" Dean screamed. What the hell? Sam had done this when he was learning how to drive and Dean hadn't spoken to him for a week. He'd never messed up with the car again. Unless you count the accident, but that wasn't his fault. They crashed into the dumpsters behind them.

"I am so sorry," Gary said, knowing that his is probably not something Sam would have done.

"Shut up and get out of the car," Dean said.

SSS

Sam woke up in the morning and used Gary's cell phone to call Dean. He didn't answer so he left him a message. He repeated the process with every phone they had. He was getting a little worried. Maybe Dean was in trouble.

He started looking around the room, trying to figure out whose body he was in. He opened up the closet and saw some Star Trek t-shirts. "Geek," he decided. He looked under the bed and found girlie magazines. Every teenage boy had those. That was no help. He found books for A.P. classes. "Smart kid." Then he found a box. It was filled with satanic stuff.

"Gary, breakfast."

"Coming," Sam said. He needed to figure out what was going on, but no reason he couldn't have a bowl of cereal in the meanwhile.

He went downstairs. No cereal. Bacon, eggs, toast, and everyone sitting around the table. This was pretty cool.

"What happened last night?" the father asked as Sam sat down at the table.

"I wish I knew," Sam said.

"No. I mean what happened to the plan?"

"The plan?" Sam asked.

"Yes, the plan. Graduate high school, go to Harvard pre-med, Johns Hopkins medical school, become a neurosurgeon."

That sounded like a pretty good plan.

SSS

"Let's play some pool to get some cash," Dean suggested.

"OK," Gary said. He could wait a couple of days to kill Dean. He had never been on his own before. He would need to be shown the ropes of how to live life on the road.

"So, we'll drive for a few hours until we find a decent sized town where we can hustle some pool and then make a quick getaway."

"Lunch?" Gary asked.

"You want to stop for food?" Dean asked, surprised. Dean couldn't remember the last time Sam mentioned food. Dean was always hungry before Sam. Which was weird because Sam ate way less food.

"Yeah."

"OK," Dean said and pulled into a Biggerson's. He loved that place. Too bad their year of free food was long gone.

"I'll have a bacon cheeseburger," Dean ordered his usual.

"Me, too," Gary said. His parents didn't let him eat fatty, greasy foods.

"Really?" Dean asked. Ever since Stanford, Sam had been into healthy food.

"Yeah, I eat bacon cheeseburgers, don't I?" Gary hoped that he could get through a couple of days with Dean without him getting suspicious.

"Not since we were kids."

"Feeling nostalgic," Gary decided on.

Dean shrugged. Sometimes Sam was weird.


	3. School Daze

"You're acting weird," Gary's sister Sydney, said to Sam as they were walking to school.

"What do you mean?"

"You're usually so surly at breakfast, but you were actually nice to mom and dad."

"They're good parents," Sam said, absent-mindedly. He was no closer to figuring out what was going on and if Dean wasn't checking his messages he had no idea of how to find him.

"I thought maybe you were trying to throw them off the track," Sydney interrupted his thoughts.

"What track?" Sam realized that he was skating on thin ice with the questions. Gary would know what his sister was talking about.

"That creepy old book of spells that you keep in your locker. You said there was something in there that was going to get you out of Dad's life plan for you."

"Oh, that," Sam said. Bingo. He just needed to get that book from Gary's locker. Of course, first he had to find out what Gary's locker number was. No way he could ask Sydney that without throwing up a red flag.

He walked into the high school and split with his "sister."

Trevor saw Gary. He wondered if Gary had chickened out or if that was Gary's body with some other dude in it.

"Hey, Gary," he said. "What happened last night?"

"Got drunk," Sam said, deciding to go with that cover story.

OK, that answered that question. Gary would have said nothing or that he didn't do it. He would have known what Trevor was asking about. Trevor wondered what, if anything, he was supposed to do. He decided probably nothing. Gary would kill Dean and then arrange for Trevor's reward. This guy really had nothing to do with the equation. "See you later."

"Wait, do you know my locker number?"

Trever thought about messing with him. Trying to have him come up with a reason why he wouldn't know that, but decided against it. "Still drunk, huh?"

"Yeah," Sam said, glad that the story was good for something.

Trevor gave him the number and headed off to his first class.

Sam found the locker, grabbed the book, and stuffed it in his bag. He then decided he should go to his classes and deal with everything after school. He didn't want to draw suspicion. Plus, he loved school.

SSS

"OK, Sam, want to do the usual drill?" Dean asked as they entered a bar.

Gary, of course, had no idea what the usual drill was. "Um, maybe we should mix it up a little," Gary hedged to cover the fact.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked. "You want to play and act drunk?" That was usually what Dean did and Sam would try to "talk him out of playing." That usually ended up winning them a bunch.

"Yeah," Gary said, getting the idea. He couldn't believe people would fall for that.

"OK," Dean said. He knew Sam could play pool as well as he could, so why not?

Gary got scared. He knew how to play pool, it was just about geometry, but he had never been drunk, hence wasn't sure how to act drunk. Plus, he wasn't sure how much he should lose in the first place. On the other hand, if he talked Dean out of the current plan, he also didn't know how much he should push for Dean to stop playing. He didn't know how to play either role.

"Maybe we should just forget about the whole thing," Gary said.

"Why?" Dean asked. They were seriously low on cash. Credit card fraud could only pay for so much.

"I'm just getting a bad vibe."

"Bad vibe?" Dean asked. Dean was never sure if Sam could sense things or not. But they had enough bad luck, no sense bring on some that could be avoided. There were other bars. "OK, we'll hit a different bar."

That wasn't going to help anything. Well, at least he would have a few minutes to try to figure something out.

When they got to the car, he had a thought. "Dean, I think the whole drunk thing is getting a little old. It's kind of obvious."

"What's with you tonight?"

"Nothing. I just think we should straight up play pool tonight. We shouldn't try to fool anybody."

"Sam, we make more if we get people to bet based on the fact that we're drunk or bad players," Dean pointed out logically. Sam knew all this.

"Yeah, but that's what every pool hustler in the world does. People don't bet big against really bad players anymore. The gig is up."

"So, you just want to walk in, let them know how good we are and still get them to bet?"

"Basically."

"Bad plan."

"Let's just try it this once."

"Fine," Dean sighed. They wouldn't really lose money on this plan.

"Next game," Dean said and put the money on the table.

After an hour they left the bar $500 richer. Dean realized maybe they didn't need all the trickery. And now they didn't have to run out worried about irate bikers chasing them. They ordered a couple of beers and sat down.

"That was great," Gary said. He had never had so much fun. He was usually working or doing homework or getting yelled at by his dad. Every activity had to contribute to the plan.

"Yeah, it was a good night," Dean admitted. He and Sam hadn't had too many bonding moments since he had found out that Sam drank demon blood. That was a real turning point in their relationship.

"You're a good guy, Dean," Gary said. The demons had told him told him that Dean was a bad guy. Kind of made him wonder why he would believe demons about something like that. Why had he ever decided Satanism was a good thing?

"You're drunk," Dean said.

"No, I mean it. You're a good guy. Do you ever feel like your life is being decided for you?"

"Uh, yeah, Sam, I do." What a weirdo question with all the crap with destiny they'd been dealing with lately.

Gary sighed. Dean was a nice guy but he didn't understand anything about being controlled. Dean didn't take crap from anybody. Not even ghosts or demons. Gary couldn't even talk back to his father.


	4. Details

Sam headed up to his room and started poring through the witch book. He found the spell that Gary must have used to switch bodies. He found the reversal, but it wouldn't do him a lot of good unless he could find his body. He was also worried about Dean. He wasn't sure what Gary was trying to accomplish, but if Dean found out that he wasn't Sam, there might be trouble.

There was a knock at the door. Sam shoved the book under the bed and grabbed his chemistry book. "Come in."

Gary's father appeared in the doorway. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

How was he supposed to know? "No. I don't work tonight."

"Since when?" Gary worked Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It was Tuesday.

"I switched with someone else."

"Why? Wednesday you have Science Club and play rehearsal. Thursday you have Debate club and Sunday is family day. What did you trade for?"

Really? He wished he could have done all that stuff when he'd been in school. He had hardly been able to do anything but hunt. He was lucky if he had time to do his homework. "I didn't trade exactly. Someone new wanted some extra hours and I had this chemistry test to study for."

"OK," Gary's dad said and left. Wow, John would have never just believed him. He would have called the boss and checked. Questioned why he would put a test before earning money.

SSS

The next morning, Dean wanted to call Bobby to check on him. He realized he couldn't find his cell phone. "Sam, let me borrow your cell."

"I think I lost it," Gary said.

"That's weird. I can't find mine either." He went out to the Impala and looked in the glove compartment. There should have been like 3 phones in there. There were none. Even his dad's phone was gone.

He went back inside. "Sam, have you seen any of the phones?"

Gary shook his head.

"That's weird. Guess we'll need to get new ones." He never locked the Impala. Some kid probably raided the glove compartment. They didn't keep anything important in there. All the weapons and fake i.d.s were in the trunk.

When Dean turned away Gary breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure if the gig was up.

SSS

Sam headed off to school with Sydney. He tried to figure out how to find Dean. He had no idea where he would head after this job.

"So, tonight is the first rehearsal for your play. Are you excited?" Sydney asked. Gary had tried out for every play and this was the first one he had gotten a part in.

"Yeah," Sam said. He wondered what play it was and what the part was. Luckily it was the first rehearsal so he wouldn't be expected to have his lines memorized yet.

"I think you'll be perfect as George in Our Town. It's just so you."

That was the same play Sam had been in when he was a kid. Dean had covered for him with his dad when he would sneak off to rehearsals and of course he hadn't come. Dean had been in the front row, though. Luckily, John had been off on a hunt and their absence wasn't noticed.

SSS

When Dean and Gary got their new phones, Gary headed off to find some privacy. He called his cell phone number.

"Hello?"

"Oxy Moxy doxy doo." Sam was just heading home after play rehearsal.

"What?" Sam whispered into the phone.

"It's Gary, Sam. I just locked the spell. Nobody can reverse it now."

Sam paled. He had seen in Gary's book that that was possible. Now there was no getting out of this body ever.

"Where are you?"

"You don't need to know that," Gary said.

"Why did you do this?" Sam asked.

"Demons put out a hit on Dean. I figured I could kill him and get me a new life if I switched bodies with you."

"You killed Dean?" Sam panicked.

"No. I couldn't do it. I like him."

Sam smiled and shook his head. Only Dean could charm his killer into not killing him. "Well, we need to switch back."

"We can't now?" Gary remind him. "Besides, I've been looking through your stuff. You look like you would love my dad's plan for me."

"It's a good plan," Sam said. He didn't know why anyone wouldn't want to live this life.

"Sure, if that's what you're into. I'm not."

"So, what? You want to hunt with Dean? You're going to watch his back?" Maybe Gary's life did appeal to Sam, but he had a responsibility to Dean. Gary didn't know anything about hunting.

"I don't think Dean wants to hunt." Gary had been picking up a vibe.

"Of course he doesn't want to hunt. He wants a family. Family is everything to him. If he could, he'd go marry Lisa and be a father to Ben."

"No idea who you're talking about, but he should do that."

"He can't, Gary. We're in the middle of the Apocalypse."

"Why is that your responsibility?" Gary asked.

"Because I'm Lucifer's vessel and Dean is Michael's. This is way more than you're prepared to take on. Believe me."

"Well, it's not your call. How are you going to find us?"

"Dean will check in with Bobby sooner or later," Sam said, planning on calling him as soon as he got off the phone with Gary.

"So. Bobby doesn't know who you are. Do you think he's going to tell you where to find Dean."

Gary had a point. Bobby wasn't going to listen to him. Anybody else would lock him up if he started talking about body switches and demons. Besides, he really did want to live Gary's life. "OK."

"OK?"

"Yeah, but I want you to call me every week and let me know how Dean is doing. I highly doubt he's going to give up hunting right now. You need to watch his back."

"I will. I promise. Watch out for Sid," Gary added as an afterthought. Even though they didn't always get along he really did love his sister.

"Sure," Sam said. He loved having a younger sister. He got to be the big brother this time.

Gary was hanging up when Dean found him. "Who was that?" he asked.

"Old friend," Gary said.

"Stanford?" Dean asked. He thought Sam had stopped keeping in touch with any of them after they had helped out his friend Rebecca.

"No," Gary said and left it at that.

Dean shrugged. It wasn't important and he had found them a job.

SSS

Three weeks later

Trevor was wondering what was going on with Gary. He hadn't heard anything from a demon about a reward. He wondered if Gary had double-crossed him. He decided to summon a demon and find out. He found one of their demonic books and said an incantation. A girl around his age appeared before him.

"You called?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering what was going on?"

The demon was confused. What was this moron talking about? "With what?"

"Gary and Dean Winchester."

"What about Dean Winchester?" the demon was intrigued. She wanted to gank him so bad.

"Gary switched bodies with Sam Winchester so that he could kill Dean Winchester, and he was supposed to get me a reward."

The demon laughed. If Dean were dead she would know. But, if this story were true, Lucifer would have an easier time getting his vessel body. That was for sure.

Trevor wasn't sure what the laugh meant. He was about to ask again, when the demon shoved her fist through to his heart and squeezed the life out of this moron. She would leave Sam in his new meat suit, just in case Lucifer wanted him back in his own body. When you never quite knew what Lucifer wanted, it was best to do nothing.

The End


End file.
